WHEN the Tropfest short film festival set up a YouTube channel for entrants to upload their films for this year's competition, it was banking on receiving a lot more international entries.
What it hadn't banked on was China's ban on the video-sharing website, leaving Chinese Tropfest aspirants in limbo.
''We were contacted by a big media company there which alerted us to the problem,'' says Paul Stuart, Tropfest's festival and business manager.
''So their filmmakers are sending their DVDs, and we'll upload them from here.''
Films from China, Iran, Singapore, Hungary, Portugal, the US and Britain among the international entries received in time for today's 6pm deadline.
''We've already had more international entries this year compared to last year, which was absolutely one of our big goals this year,'' Stuart says.
''There are some countries we've never had entries from before.''
Entries in all categories - Tropfest, Trop Jr for young filmmakers and Mobile Masterpieces for films made on a mobile phone - are tracking ahead of last year. Final numbers won't be known until tonight.
The YouTube channel means no more last-minute dashes to the Tropfest offices in Redfern but Stuart says emails have flooded in and the phones have been running hot.
''Most entries are coming in this week because people have had time to work on their films,'' he says.
And if you haven't even started, Stuart says it isn't too late. ''I heard of filmmakers last year deciding to make one the day before, so it's never too late. But the mobile category is definitely the one to do.''
Among those who have entered Mobile Masterpieces is Tushar Apte, from Strathfield.
Apte, 25, tried to make a film for last year's contest but ran out of time and missed the deadline. ''I saw there was a mobile category and thought that since my strength isn't really cinematography, that was the way to go this time,'' he says.
The freelance writer and musician wrote the script for Connected in one night, filmed it over several weeks with friends and submitted it yesterday. ''It was a lot easier than a film, where you have to think about the lighting, equipment and everything.
''And there's the flexibility - it's very easy to get shots in tight corners. The hardest thing is having a steady hand, so it's hard to do panning shots.''
Apte says the film cost about $80 to make, ''although $60 of that went on train tickets.
''We did a few shots on the train, and we had three or four people looking at us wondering what we were doing filming.
''To them you don't look like a filmmaker, you look like a weirdo on the train.''
Stuart says most Tropfest entrants are newcomers, with some past finalists in the mix alongside a few well-known actors trying their hand at directing.
A panel of 20 people will watch all the entries and compile a shortlist by January 17. The 15 finalists will be announced at the end of this month or the beginning of February before the big event in the Domain on February 20.
